mechanisms for human rights protection and promotion that mirror their human rights conditions. Discussions at Home The vision for a national human rights institution in Korea was developed through the combination of the interest of the international community to establish national institutions for human rights, the long-held public desire for democracy and improved human rights conditions, sustained efforts by human rights and civil society organizations, and the will of the Korean government. Discussions to establish a national human rights institution in Korea were first sparked by the participation of a joint committee of private entities at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, Austria, in June 1993. With human rights and civil society organizations continuously voicing the need for a national institution dedicated to human rights issues, these private entities demanded legislation for an independent national human rights institution responsible for the research, study, education, and promotion of human rights protection and improvement pursuant to the United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 1992/54 and the Paris Principles. Based on related discussions at home and abroad, presidential candidate Kim Dae-jung included the establishment of a human rights institution in his presidential election pledge in 1997. The National Human Rights Commission of Korea Act (hereinafter referred to as the NHRCK Act) was enacted on May 24, 2001, after the launch of the Kim Dae-jung administration and as a result of three years of persistent struggle by the Joint Task Force of Private Organizations for the Realization of a Right National Human Rights Institution, which was established in April 1999 by 71 human rights and civil society organizations. Six months later on November 25, 2001, the Commission was founded as an independent national institution. 2. Identity The Commission is a national institution committed to human rights issues that actively advocates people's rights guaranteed under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as the Constitution) and carries out its duty to protect and promote human rights in accordance with the NHRCK Act. 04 Introduction